


I Don't Need a Savior (but I sure need a hand)

by Ellesra



Series: KHR rare pair week 2020 [8]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Detective&Mafia AU, Explicit Sexual Content, Identity Porn, M/M, Strange sexual preferences, Two Shot, blowjob
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:53:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellesra/pseuds/Ellesra
Summary: "My apologies, I did not mean to make things awkward between us," he lied, and quirked his lips into a smile that hopefully didn't look too pitying. Hibari was still, as though a single movement might tip the moment over the knife's edge.
Relationships: Gokudera Hayato/Hibari Kyouya
Series: KHR rare pair week 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800307
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17
Collections: KHR Rare Pair Week 2020





	I Don't Need a Savior (but I sure need a hand)

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [KHR_Rare_Pair_Week_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/KHR_Rare_Pair_Week_2020) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  June 28: Earth/Flameless Day - Phantom ~~Thief~~ Mafia AU

At the start of his career, being a police officer had been a lot more boring than Kyoya had predicted. Part of the reason was probably his refusal to transfer from the town of his childhood, Namimori.

Even so, he still found a quiet pleasure in assuring that no one stepped out of line. In making certain that Namimori stayed the peaceful town it was supposed to be, devoid of the high crime rates found in the cities that lay a mere stone-throw away.

Until the sudden influx of _mafia,_ that was. It was absurd, that something straight out of bad pretend-italian movies would come to _his_ town and invade the turf that was so obviously claimed by peace. Yet it came sudden and all at once; at one moment the largest crime to be found in the streets was a teenage shoplifter or a lone drunkard who had yet to learn the consequences of their actions; the next moment Namimori found itself the scene of a turf war, raged between families of criminals that had seemed to appear from nothing.

Kyoya was a firm believer that the Namimori Police Force was fully equipped to deal with this new threat on its own. The chief was not nearly as secure in his belief, and as the weeks stretched into months, the criminals were slipping out of their hands at the word of one sharp-eyed lawyer. They still hadn't managed to get a single conviction in place. Reinforcement was called in.

Reinforcement turned out to be a single person. As the Chief of Police introduced their new associate, Kyoya scoffed from where he was seated. The man didn't look like much. He had thick square glasses, ridiculously colored _grey_ hair despite looking to be in his twenties, and his body had a thin frame that Kyoya was certain he could snap one-handed.

Apparently he was from Italy, and specialized in analyzing crime scenes. He was an expert on organized crime syndicates, and had knowledge on both of the groups the police were struggling with. Kyoya must have scoffed again, because his partner elbowed him.

"Try to be nice to him, Hibari-san. You're already in trouble with the chief as it is," Kyoko whispered, and a glance at her face told him she was directing that overbearing smile his way again. Kyoya rolled his eyes, but didn't bite back like he would have if anyone else had suggested the same. Instead he turned his attention back on the meeting as their new associate "Gokudera Hayato" sat down in the front row. The chief went on to explain their newest situation with the warring gangs, namely how all the small criminal groups in Namimori had been joining one of two sides: either the Vongola, or the Millefiore.

It was both worrying and not, that the disorganized chaos was coming together into two bigger opponents. It was good, because it meant that the main actors would be easier to pinpoint and hopefully get stuck with charges that actually held tight in a courtroom. On the other hand, bigger groups meant bigger conflicts, and larger, more serious crimes.

Everything being organized on a greater scale also meant a larger basis for corruption, and Kyoya was already keeping an attentive eye towards the other police officers.

Doing that didn't exactly make him popular, but that mattered little in the scope of things. They could all hate him for all he cared, as long as his town was clean at the end of it all.

The meeting ended, and Kyoya was one of the first people out of the room. Back at his desk he gathered what he would need for his latest assignment.

"Hibari Kyoya, I'd like to introduce you to our newest associate," the voice of his boss sounded from behind him. Turning around Kyoya saw the new guy, with Kyoya’s partner and her usual cheerful disposition beside him.

"You already told us who he is," Kyoya states, glaring at the three people before him in equal measure. His boss, used to his behaviour, merely rolled his eyes. Sasagawa was unaffected.

Gokudera, however, was scowling back. So he got the message. Good.

"Well, as you and your partner will be the ones working with him the most, I felt the need to introduce him to you personally. You will show him around the precinct Hibari, and include him in your investigation. Be civil, and cooperate. I've already warned you what will happen if you step out of line again."

Kyoya scowled. Inside him, hatred against the old imbecile of a chief bubbled to the surface. If he could have done so without repercussions, Kyoya would have beaten the man up long ago. At the mere mention of a possibility of corruption, the man had seemed to take it as less of a warning and more as an encouragement. Instead of taking the officers Kyoya had warned him of to task, he had ignored the matter in its entirety.

He had not ignored it nearly as much when Kyoya had beaten up another officer after discovering he was actively working with the Millefiore.

Turning his attention back towards the analyst to make absolutely certain that he didn’t lose his temper right then and there, he's annoyed to see that Gokudera's scowl had been replaced with a more calculating look.

"Thank you so much sir, I'll make sure they get along," Kyoko promised, her bright smile taking the scowl off the old chief's face. Kyoya refrained from rolling his eyes, knowing that it might well spark another scolding.

Soon after only the three of them were left by the desk. An awkward silence stretched, and Kyoya turned to finish what he was doing.

"Hibari-san." It's a voice he'd never heard before, and Kyoya didn't bother hiding his scowl as he turned around.

"What."

Kyoya could see Kyoko shaking her head and walking past him. He heard the sound of paper rustling as she took the opportunity to look over what he'd gathered.

"I get that you don't think much of me, but I can assure you that I know more about the groups you have on your doorstep than any person in this precinct, including you. This town will soon be in pieces if we don't do something. So whatever you have against me, I suggest you shut up and let me do what I do best, so that you can do what you clearly specialize in: being a brute and bringing punishment to whatever criminals you catch. Sound good?"

Kyoya had felt his brows involuntarily raise with surprise as Gokudera gave his speech.

At least the man knew how to bark.

Time would tell if he could bite, too.

"Very well, _Gokudera_. Please enlighten me about what you do best, then."

Kyoya bared his teeth in a grin, and to his amusement he got a smirk and narrowed grey eyes in response.

Good. Kyoya wouldn't want his new prey to cower with fright. It would be much more fun this way.

///

The discomfort he'd felt all day had somehow steeled in the face of this new threat. Before this, the gnawing insecurity that he would not be the best for this job had prevailed. What if he failed, and got his whole family doomed as a result? What if he let everyone down, what if he left _Tsuna_ down?

His insecurity had always stilled in combat, and it was no different now. Facing Hibari Kyoya felt like looking a shark in the mouth, like defusing a bomb he didn't know the layout of. Gokudera stared back into a grin that felt like a threat, and he smiled back.

"Firstly, you are acting under the wrong presumption. You assume that this war started with the two families, the Vongola and the Millefiore, figuring at the same time that they both desired this town. Since they both seemed to surface at the same time, that _is_ a logical leap. However, the Vongola were here first. It is only because of microaggressions from the Millefiore that the Vongola came into the light, but they have actually been here for years."

Gokudera paused, glancing between the two police officers. Sasagawa was looking at him from behind a paper she had been reading, eyes wide.

Hibari was staring at him with an intensity that was borderline murderous.

"Secondly, as you may have suspected, Namimori is not the main seat of power for either faction. Which means that neither will be averse to burning the ground behind them should things turn especially ugly," Gokudera lied. The frown on Hibari's face changed slightly, and he seemed worried by this. No wonder; from his research on the cop, there was little the man cared for more than this town. The notion that the mafia would care little for what they left behind would be sure to bother him.

"Thirdly," Gokudera spoke, as Hibari was starting on a retort, "you clearly need someone who can see the big picture. If you don't, then Kurokawa Hana is just going to keep pulling the convictions from your hands like the snake that she is," he finished. Hibari was glaring at him, and Sasagawa was looking strangely amused by the whole thing.

There was a moment of tense quiet, and Gokudera wondered whether he would get to see the cop’s violent side this early in their relations. He _might_ be putting it on a bit thick, if only to see whether Hibari was capable of attacking him in the middle of the precinct. Better to find out immediately, than to take the chance of it happening when nobody was around.

In the end Hibari let it all pass with a shrug. "I am going out to continue my surveillance of the Terikami apartment blocks. Call me if you find something new," he said gruffly to his partner, before grabbing a pile of papers and striding out of the room.

"You actually managed to make him at a loss for words. I think it's the first time I've seen it happen!" Sasagawa laughed.

Gokudera shrugged, though secretly he felt a spark of pride at the interaction being somewhat successful. From what he knew, Hibari didn't let anyone or anything tell him they knew better than him. Either his intel was wrong, or he had actually succeeded in making the man think twice about something.

"So what are you working on currently?"

Sasagawa spent the rest of the day getting him settled in his new workspace. While at a first glance the detective might seem airheaded and cheerful to the point of stupidity, Gokudera found that she was in reality an observant and skilled police officer. Her insight on the case was thorough, and he also found that there didn't seem to be a single coworker in the office that disliked her. While many might dismiss it as her being easy to like, Gokudera noticed how she wound her way through conversations without a single misstep. She seemed to easily find the words that would cheer and brighten the atmosphere.

At the end of the day Gokudera had gotten an in depth view of the case, and felt a thorough understanding of why Sasagawa Kyoko, though in natural opposition with Kurokawa Hana, also managed to be the shrewd lawyer's best friend.

Plenty of officers were still behind their desks. Others had left earlier in the day, either to work on cases outside of the station or to take an early day due to having no pressing cases on their workload. Gokudera had been introduced to them all through Sasagawa, but probably wouldn't have remembered any of the names if he hadn't already gathered a file on them all.

Exactly five minutes after the work day was officially over, Hibari came storming into the office. His jacket was hanging loosely from his shoulders, his hair had been swept to the side by wind, and his entire face shone of satisfaction.

Sasagawa herself was gathering her things, her jacket already slung over her arm. She looked up as Hibari walked over, and there was a brief drag of trepidation across her face before her smile came back on.

"I know who is in charge of this branch of Vongola," Hibari stated, without responding to the greeting Sasagawa sent his way. Seeing that he had her attention, Hibari plowed on.

"I've been seeing him around for weeks, and I finally managed to find out who he is. Yamamoto Takeshi is the man we've been seeing around, who all the lower criminals seem to defer to. Once I figured out his name, I also found out that he's fairly well known in criminal circles. He must be the one Vongola sent to be in charge of things here, and is likely far up in the hierarchy. Perhaps even second in charge, judging from how important the Vongola seem to deem this territory." Hibari was practically vibrating, and once he’d finished talking he finally turned to regard Gokudera. The smile he flashed was gleeful, as though this was his win.

Gokudera kept his eye-rolling to a minimum. "While Yamamoto Takeshi is indeed well known, he's hardly the type to be Vongola's right-hand man, or even a character of vital importance. He _is_ known in Italy for being a merciless hitman, but he's really not much more than a goon being sent out whenever somebody becomes a problem and needs to be 'dealt with'. I'm afraid he's probably not the one you're looking for."

It might be wrong of him, to give the police such a big pointer. However, it's not a lie that Yamamoto was well known for his skill, though it had not been openly connected with the Vongola before now.

Gokudera just couldn’t help but follow the call of the seething annoyance that Yamamoto might be considered of such _importance_. Had they mistaken anyone else for having such a position, Gokudera might have let it go for the silliness of it.

Yamamoto was another matter entirely.

"And how would you know so much about him?" Hibari asked, his smirk having frozen into a grimace as his glare rested on Gokudera.

Gokudera leaned against a desk, hands in his pockets. "I've chased his tail before. We were certain it was him, but never managed to get enough proof against him. And then he disappeared."

Hibari took several long seconds to stare at him, before he snorted with disgust.

"And you didn't feel the need to inform us that he was here," he sneered.

Gokudera shook his head. "I didn't know that he was. I only came here because the Namimori police needed someone with intricate knowledge on the Vongola. I was the only one who both suited their needs and knew the language."

Hibari kept staring at him. An entire minute went by, and Gokudera idly wondered how long the cop would keep the staring contest going.

Suddenly Hibari's expression eased entirely. He nodded. Then he turned towards Sasagawa.

"I'll send you a message if I manage to track his residence." Hibari hesitated, like he was waiting for something. Gokudera discovered what when he heard Sasagawa's voice behind him.

"I will keep researching the weapon manufacturer. Though I do have something I want to talk to you about, before you leave." The smile was back, though Gokudera felt it looked more genuine now than it had at times earlier that day. Hibari nodded, and together they walked between the desks of the office. "Oh, and Gokudera-san, feel free to go home! We'll see you again tomorrow morning," Sasagawa said across the office, waving as she and Hibari stepped through the door of one of the interrogation rooms.

Very well. Gokudera would return tomorrow, and leave the officers to their case for now.

In the meantime, he had a phone call to make.

\---

The next day Gokudera came into the office bright and early to see that Hibari was already present. The office was mostly empty, and when Gokudera gave the cop a searching look he could see the dark shadow underneath Hibari's eyes.

"Did you even go home last night?" he commented, instead of the 'good morning' he might have offered had Sasagawa been there. He had a feeling Hibari didn't particularly care for greetings anyway.

Hibari merely glared at him. Gokudera grinned in return.

"Sasagawa wanted me to bring you with me today. Probably so she won't have to lug your ass around," Hibari told him, the last muttered in a way that was clearly meant to be heard.

"Alright. Where are you planning on going today?" he asked. He might have protested, except that he was actually more curious to follow Hibari. There was nothing incriminating against the Vongola to be found with the weapons manufacturer in town. Their manufacturing all happened in Italy, after all.

"I didn't find Yamamoto's hiding place yesterday, but I did manage to find out where some of the lower crooks in their employ live. I want to tail some of them, in case I can catch a more interesting tail along the way."

Gokudera nodded. It did make sense to find some more sources of information. From what he knew, they didn't actually have any informants on this particular case either. It was in their interest to map out all the actors.

It took them the better part of two weeks before tailing led to anything of substance. Gokudera was not always there, but when he was he and Hibari mostly kept silent. However, the times they didn't Gokudera often had to struggle to keep his temper in check.

Hibari was brilliant. He was also brilliantly stubborn, hotheaded, and biased. He was many things a cop shouldn't be, and Gokudera had more than once thought with some humor that Hibari would probably have been a fearsome criminal in his own right if he hadn’t been tied to the police as he was.

It was easy to imagine the man turning vigilante if he lost the connection he had to the law. Gokudera had read enough comics to easily think up several ways such a thing could happen.

Better make sure it didn't. Hibari as a vigilante would be much more scary than he was currently, as he would no longer be constrained to non-violence and adhering by the strict rules of being a law enforcer. It was best for the Vongola if the people trying to bring them down were at the very least predictable.

By the time they came upon a situation where Gokudera needed to act, he was already getting weary of long hours of silence in Hibari's car, or by café-tables, or on benches next to the street. He was used to always having something to occupy his mind, and hours of surveillance was far from the busy work of managing an entire family of fellow mafia.

Luckily he saw it before Hibari did: as they rounded a corner, Gokudera spotted something entirely unexpected. _Tsuna_. Not only that, he also saw a member of the Varia beside him. They were casually talking outside a cafe, but Gokudera knew for certain that Hibari might notice them. Not because he knew who the head of the Vongola was; Tenth had made certain that no one knew who he was, after he had surfaced from anonymity and seemingly without resistance taken over the Vongola. But Squalo, the second in charge of the Varia, was not nearly as incognito.

Gokudera glanced over at Hibari. The man was glaring to the side, temporarily distracted by a couple of kids kicking a can back and forth. It didn't seem like the police officer had spotted them yet.

Gokudera grabbed Hibari's arm, and only thereafter thought about what he could possibly say that would make sense in this situation.

There was a question in the drag of Hibari's eyes. Gokudera cleared his throat.

"Uhm, Hibari. There's something... Something that I wished to talk to you about." Hibari looked intrigued. Gokudera barged on. "Since we started working together, I've found... I know it doesn't seem like it, but I think you're doing an amazing job. More than amazing. I think..." _Shit_ , he thought. What did he even think about Hibari?

"You're special. You don't conform to what everyone wants from you, and instead go with what you believe is right. I find that admirable. And I..."

Yeah, he was blanking on what else to say. What would be a suitable thing that wouldn't make Hibari think to look for a motive behind his words?

There was a moment of epiphany. _Of course_.

Not giving himself time to change his mind, Gokudera leaned forward. He could feel Hibari flinch as Gokudera kissed him. Even so he lingered, his eyes half-lidded, watching Hibari's expression for a hint of whether he should consider running.

The cop was dreadfully predictable in some things. With this, Gokudera had no idea if Hibari would punch him or flee or even kiss back.

Hibari did none of those things. He merely stood there, staring at Gokudera with wide eyes. After several seconds went by Gokudera sighed and pulled back.

"My apologies, I did not mean to make things awkward between us," he lied, and quirked his lips into a smile that hopefully didn't look too pitying. Hibari was still, as though a single movement might tip the moment over the knife's edge. Gokudera wondered how working together would be now, after he'd made this pass. Hibari didn't seem like the person to just let it slide. Then again, the man had let things slide that Gokudera had been certain would cause a feud between them.

From his position, Gokudera could demurely turn his gaze to see that Tsuna and Squalo were gone, looking as though they'd never been there in the first place.

With dread Gokudera thought of how much teasing might be in store once he returned to the Vongola headquarters. While he knew Tsuna would never mention it, Squalo was definitely the type to hound him incessantly about his "new boytoy". If he told the rest of the Varia, Gokudera was certain he would never get a moment's peace again.

_Bel_ was going to be a _menace._ He really didn't look forward to coming home to that.

On the other hand, he missed his family an awful lot. It was like there was this big, black hole of emptiness in his life now that he couldn't return to the place where he belonged. Some days it was almost like he was back to the time before Vongola, when he had run from one place to the next and always managed to burn every bridge he started to build once it seemed like he might have found a connection. Finding Tsuna had been too good to be true. Some days it still seemed too good to be real.

However, Hibari was still staring at him.

"Did I break you?" he asked, putting a bit more force into his words. Being gentle with Hibari was an unpredictable thing. Being crude and provocative, usually had a certain result.

A glare settled back onto Hibari's face. "As if you could, you twig," he sneered, and started walking. Gokudera gave a huff of laughter as he followed.

They finished their trek to the scene where a fight had broken out earlier that day. The day continued not unlike any other day.

The next day Gokudera met up at the station to find Hibari already gone.

"Oh, I'm sorry Gokudera-kun! Hibari had something he wanted to check out on his own." Sasagawa said from where she sat at her desk. She was filling out some paperwork, the eternal enemy of a police officer. Gokudera shrugged.

"That's fine. I have some things I need to research anyway," he dismissed, though it struck him as strange that Hibari wouldn't message him about it. While the cop was a definition of speaking through action rather than words, he had been fairly good at warning Gokudera if their schedule changed for the day.

It probably didn't matter. Hibari would return later, with or without a clear reason to be out.

It took five days before Gokudera saw Hibari again. That day, Gokudera came early to finish a report on a crime scene analysis. As he came into the office, he found that Hibari was actually present. He was sitting behind a computer with a dark scowl on his face as he tapped away at the keyboard. Gokudera casually walked over, sitting down at the desk he'd been assigned which bordered Hibari's.

"Morning," he greeted. With the way Hibari's head whipped up, it looked like he might have gotten a whiplash.

Several seconds went by in silence as Hibari stared at him. Then he grunted something that _might_ have been a greeting.

Gokudera rolled his eyes as he took out his computer and started working on his assignment. It was about a murder scene that the police suspected had ties to the ongoing strife between the two families, as the victim could be connected to a suspected member of the Millefiore. All clues pointed towards the Vongola as the culprit. Gokudera was certain it hadn't been them. Explaining that from the evidence, would be a challenge and a half.

After about twenty minutes of writing his observations, he noticed Hibari starting to pack down his things.

"Going out again?" he asked as Hibari stood up from his chair.

"Yes," Hibari confirmed.

"... Okay. Where are you going?" Gokudera looked up from his computer, and saw Hibari glaring a hole into his skull. The man redirected his eyes as Gokudera's gaze met his.

The pause between conversation felt heavy, like breaking it was going to be tough. "Just doing some more surveillance," Hibari replied.

Gokudera felt annoyance building, but squashed it. Stuffing dynamite up Hibari's ass wouldn't help anyone. Though Gokudera would have liked to see the man’s face if he’d tried.

"Hibari," he started, trying to cut through that infuriating tension between them, "are you angry at me? Because if you are, just say it. Avoiding me like a little boy running from cooties really doesn't suit you," he said, unable to keep a bit of that annoyance from leaking into his voice. There was just something about this guy that really got on his nerves. While he was no longer that rash teen who would attack or run away from anyone treating him differently than what he expected, he was having a hard time dealing with this. Especially because he had created this situation himself, and had no idea how to get out of it again.

"No," Hibari finally answered. He let another heavy pause fall between them, before he continued. "But if you would just stay out of my business, and finish your job so that you can leave, that would be great," he ground out.

For some reason those words stabbed through him like a dirk. He was used to people saying much worse. So why did this bother him?

He wasn't even planning on staying here. Hibari was just confirming his plans, even if Hibari didn't know it himself.

"Great. I'll do that," Gokudera said, gritting his teeth as he met Hibari's narrowed gaze with his own glare. What a fucking douchebag. Gokudera should have found another way to distract the man. He would have, if he'd known Hibari would react in such a way. Was he a goddamn preteen, to not be able to handle one tiny kiss without flipping his handle?

It wasn't like it had meant anything.

Hibari finished packing his stuff and left in a stride that was too hurried to be merely brisk. He was running away. Gokudera scoffed and turned his attention back to what he was writing.

It was suddenly hard to concentrate on his work. As he kept trying to focus on the bloody crime scene he was analyzing his mind kept wandering. It went from Hibari and Sasagawa and the precinct, and carried him back to Italy. Back to his family. Annoying as they were, he missed them with an ache that struck deep.

Worse than thinking about them, however, was thinking about _Tsuna_. His boss was _here,_ so close he could touch him, talk to him face to face, let out all those worries that sat in his chest like an anvil. And yet he couldn't, because he was undercover and Tsuna was much too precious to be known to others. There was no way he could break his cover and run to his boss just because he was being weak enough to give in to his impulses. It hadn't even been a full month since he left Italy. There was no reason that he should feel this... Alone.

There was a hand on his shoulder, and for a moment Gokudera let himself believe that it was Tsuna.

"Gokudera-kun, are you okay?" the gentle voice of Sasagawa Kyoko asked. Gokudera turned to give her a smile that felt more like a grimace.

"Yeah, everything... It's fine."

Those big brown eyes looked sceptical as she appraised him. Even so she let it go with a nod.

"Did you speak with Hibari?" she asked, and if Gokudera's expression hadn't been a grimace before, it definitely was now.

"Yeah, he's..." he trailed off, not wanting to insult Hibari in front of his partner.

"He's being stupid, isn't he?" she said, smiling mischievously. Gokudera couldn't help but respond with a grin. Sasagawa really was able to brighten anyone's day. Even his.

"I mean, not to insult your partner or anything, but he's being a bit of a preschooler," Gokudera said. If he was being honest, half his problem was just that he didn't get what Hibari wanted. It seemed like he would rather just be working alone, but the way he had brought Gokudera along every day, how he always waited for him despite having stayed at the station overnight... In that, it didn't seem like Hibari _actually_ wanted to work alone.

"He gets like this with new people. I think he's afraid of them getting too close, once he realizes that he is actually establishing a connection with someone," Sasagawa said, her smile looking more sad than before. _Ah_ , Gokudera thought. _So this has happened before_.

"I suppose it doesn't matter much. It's not like we're friends or anything," Gokudera shrugged. He was surprised when Sasagawa broke out in a laugh.

"Oh believe me, you're friends with him now whether you'd like it or not. And Hibari, well, he doesn't let people go easily. Just bear with him being weird for a while. He's a good friend when it counts," she said, and reached over to give Gokudera a friendly pat on the shoulder. Her smile was teasing as she went back to her work.

As another day went, Gokudera kept going back to that. Guilt kept fighting with pride, in the sense that he was doing his job, whatever that meant for the people around him. Hibari starting to view him as a friend wasn't good in the sense that he would then be betraying someone he was close to. At the same time the thought gave him a warm feeling that persisted, even if his mood tipped from one point to another.

As it was, Gokudera didn't really have a lot of friends.

Part was definitely his propensity for violence. The other side of it was his status. Before, his position had been worse than dirt. He had been the gum on people's soles that they kicked at until they were rid of it. Now it was the opposite; Gokudera was seen as a part of an elite, a member of the Vongola's inner circle. This meant that most people outside of that circle were either afraid of him, or looked up to him, or loathed him for his position. It wouldn't normally bother him as long as he had his family around him. Now it felt a bit like he was back to that time where he was just something to get rid of.

Except he wasn't, according to Sasagawa.

It was with a series of conflicting feelings that he finished his work for the evening.

\---

Time went both slowly and much faster than Gokudera had expected. His most prominent case was solved, and the police force celebrated their first mafia-member conviction as it was proven a member of the Millefiore had been the culprit of the murder against one of their own. Iris Hepburn went through trial and was found guilty. While Gokudera knew it would be years of trials still before she'd be locked away for good, it gave him a sense of accomplishment to have put away one of the Millefiore's more sadistic generals. Especially when her apartment had been raided to discover three men chained up in her living room; the apartment more of a sadistic experimentation chamber than a living space.

It felt like he could count the days with the words Hibari spoke to him. The first day after their conversation, the man barely spoke a word in his presence. As the days went, Hibari seemed to loosen up again. While Hibari still didn't bring him on his stakeouts and interrogations, he did start discussing his cases with him. Once Gokudera even thought he saw a smile on the man's face as he offered up additional information on a person of interest that Hibari was speaking about.

Gokudera ignored the approving smiles Sasagawa sent his way, even though their warm quality had him secretly feeling pleased. He'd never admit it out loud, but he was definitely starting to view her as a friend as well. It helped that he knew she wasn't directly opposed to his family.

Hibari was another matter entirely.

As the man started to truly map out the Vongola’s network of contacts, Gokudera saw him gain an increasingly manic gleam in his eyes. Hibari clearly felt he was at the cusp of something, and Gokudera did not look forward to finding out what that was.

It all came to a head a few days later when he got an anonymous message on his phone:

**«Keep Hibari Kyoya distracted tonight. By any means necessary.»**

The message said nothing else. No signature, but that was a necessary precaution. It meant that Gokudera had plausible deniability in the case of someone seeing the text before he did.

With his heart hammering a mile a minute in his chest, he pressed ‘delete’.

Next, he sent a text to Hibari.

**«Think Ive got a lead. Could you meet me at my apt? Its at Hanami Lane 134c, 2nd floor»**

As he awaited an answer Gokudera started planning what kind of wild goose chase he might be able to send Hibari on. He could claim that he had found some info on either the Vongola or the Millefiore. He would also have to come up with a reason he hadn’t known before then though. Could he claim he had seen someone conversing on the streets? If so, he should have photographs to back up his claim.

Booting up his laptop, Gokudera started going through the images he had stored in order to use in this sort of situation. The question was just how juicy he should make the bait. Too good, and it might have Hibari storming out the door. Too bad, and it wouldn’t be worth his time.

Gokudera spent half an hour organizing his pictures and making sure they had the right dates in the right places. At the end of the thirty minute marker, he heard a sound he’d never heard before.

The buzzer. Someone was ringing up his apartment.

Quickly he stepped over to the door. He checked the camera before clicking on the little key icon on the bottom.

«It’s just up the stairs,» he informed through the microphone. Hibari nodded before he disappeared out of view.

Gokudera made one last check that nothing was out of place. It could be truly disastrous if Hibari found evidence that Gokudera should not be in possession of.

There was a knock on the door. Gokudera took a second to steel himself, drawing a deep breath. Then he opened the door.

"Hibari-san," he greeted, perhaps a smidge more polite than normally. Hibari was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"You said you had a lead," Hibari stated.

Gokudera nodded and stepped to the side. A strange calm came over him, not unlike his state whenever he entered a fight, or when he had a particularly stubborn problem to solve.

The latter might very well prove to be it, by the stiff way Hibari moved into the room.

"Yes. Uhm, please sit. Would you like something to drink, or..." Gokudera made sure to sound hesitant, as though he felt uncertain at having Hibari in his space. Normally he would tell people to fuck off if they demanded to be served while visiting him. At this point, anything that dragged out the time would do.

"No," Hibari responded as he sat down on the couch.

Right.

"Alright," Gokudera said as he seated himself beside Hibari, "I believe I’ve found out the identity of one of the Millefiore’s generals. It’s a person we often see in the background, like here—"

He pointed to a blurry figure on one of the pictures he’d pulled up. The picture was of such a quality that the person could have been anyone with brown-ish colored hair. "And here." Another picture pulled up, this one of a slightly better quality. It was clear here that the person had glasses, and that the hair was more red than brown.

"We have suspected that this person is responsible for some of the Millefiore’s inventions, as well as the person responsible for acquiring most of their weapons. There are several feats of engineering that he’s suspected of being responsible for."

Hibari was nodding along. Gokudera continued, feeling an icy calm that also made him feel numb.

"I thought I’d look into the engineering part, seeing as it’s the place where he clearly excels. Because of that, I found this article," he said, and pulled up an article where a bespectacled teenager was smiling shyly over towards the camera. The title of the article read **Amazing Music Room Engineering from Top Student at Yumei Private School!** The text went on to talk of the boy’s passion for music and talent for engineering, and about the contest he had won.

The article itself wasn’t anything special. Seeing the picture however had Hibari’s eyes widening.

"You think it’s the same person," Hibari stated, his sharp gaze turning back to Gokudera.

He felt suddenly uncomfortable in the scrutiny of those eyes. Though it shouldn’t matter to him personally, one thought struck him with dread: Did Hibari not believe him? It _was_ very little information to go on, and Gokudera might not have believed it himself if he hadn’t already known the man’s identity for certain.

"Yes. Irie Shoichi. After finishing engineering in college, he has officially worked for a company called _Toroni Engineering Solutions_. However, there is little to indicate this company exists for anything other than for him to pay his taxes and stay out of sight. Any work the company has done has been contracted by other companies that can’t be traced beyond this one interaction."

Gokudera let his gaze fall back on Hibari after resting it on the computer screen as he talked. Hibari’s eyes were still on him, and Gokudera thought he saw the return of that same frenzy he had recognized when Hibari talked about the Vongola. Hibari was eager. He had taken the bait, and Gokudera had to figure out which direction he should pull that focus in, before Hibari ran off on his own.

There was something magnetic about the way Hibari stared at him. Gokudera felt rooted to the spot, torn between running away and pulling a weapon.

A tense silence sat between them. His mind kept going back and forth on whether interrupting it would be for the best, or if he should merely let it drag on as long as possible. He was here to distract Hibari, but in the end the most important thing was what Hibari decided to do with this new information. Whether it would be distraction enough, or if he'd go off in the wrong direction.

In the end Hibari ended up making the choice for him.

The cop leaned forwards. For a brief fraction of a second, Gokudera thought the man was about to whisper something in his ear. The notion was ridiculous.

Instead Hibari brushed his lips against Gokudera's.

He was frozen, his brain stuttering to a halt. Gokudera had been so certain that Hibari didn't feel any attraction to him, that the kiss Gokudera had used as distraction had been awkward and ultimately brushed aside.

Hibari was staring at him. There was something expectant in that gaze.

_By any means necessary_.

Gokudera tilted his head forward, his lips pressing against Hibari's. Despite being all sharp edges and hard planes, Hibari's lips were soft.

A hand cradled his head, and suddenly Hibari was kissing him with an intensity that was unexpected, but not unpleasant. Gokudera gave into it, grabbing onto Hibari's neck with one hand and his waist with the other. The work shirt was crisp underneath his fingers, and the fabric folded pleasantly in his grip as Gokudera used the cloth to drag Hibari closer.

In response, Hibari got _closer_. In fact, the man climbed to straddle Gokudera's lap, his arms going to encircle Gokudera's shoulders. They were still joined at the lips, Hibari alternating between kissing and biting and using tongue. Gokudera had never thought he'd be this enthusiastic about someone's teeth tugging at his lower lip.

Gasping for breath, Gokudera pulled back from the kiss. "Hibari-- Shit, are you... Are you sure?"

The only response he got was a growl and a glare. Hibari bent down to capture Gokudera's lips again.

They shared a brief kiss before Gokudera pulled back once more.

The look Hibari gave him then was more searching.

"Do you not want to?" he demanded, his expression going through a mixture of confusion and hurt.

Gokudera grabbed him before he could remove himself from his position on Gokudera's lap.

"That's-- I do want-- It's just, you didn't seem to actually want this before. I just feel that we should discuss it, before we rush into something that you-- that we'd both regret."

His mind was screaming at him to shut up. He was going to chase Hibari away. He'd fail his mission. On top of that, there was something in him that was enjoying this, that didn't want what they were doing to stop. Gokudera hated to admit it, that he was doing all this for a two-faced reason. It was like a double betrayal: betraying Hibari by taking advantage of him, and betraying his family by _enjoying_ what was only meant to be a distraction.

The lump in his stomach only grew worse from the look of utter confusion on Hibari's face.

"I won't regret this," Hibari stated with utter conviction.

_Fuck_ , Gokudera wanted to kiss that frown off the man's face, and it was all so _wrong_.

They should negotiate. Hibari probably wouldn't be half as willing if he knew Gokudera might be leaving soon.

The thought of Hibari handcuffing him crossed his mind. He felt incredibly ashamed that the thought led only to arousal, and not the dread it should have brought up.

"Okay," he breathed, and gave in. Gokudera moved his hands down, placing them on Hibari's hips and letting them slowly follow the seam of his pants to Hibari's ass. The man wasted no time, leaning back into the kiss with an enthusiasm that was making Gokudera's body feel like it was on fire.

His hands went over Hibari's backside, feeling the toned definition before he went back up to the seam. He tugged the crisp white shirt upward, freeing it from the pants and letting Gokudera's hands continue their journey to the soft skin underneath, exploring the taut muscles of Hibari's back. Meanwhile Hibari pressed his lips more insistently against Gokudera's, and he opened his mouth further to let their tongues tangle.

Hibari was good at kissing. Gokudera hadn't expected it, not with how solitary the man seemed. His technique was strange, but not unpleasant. A lot of teeth and a lot of tongue, and Gokudera suspected that was just the man's MO.

As he started fiddling with Gokudera's shirt, the stray wonder of whether Hibari was the kind to rip shirts open occurred to him. It almost made him laugh out loud when Hibari started meticulously opening each button, all the while continuing his assault on Gokudera's mouth with his tongue and teeth and lips.

The temptation of laughter did not linger as Hibari got his shirt open. His hands started exploring in earnest, and Gokudera had a hard time focusing with Hibari's fingers leaving fiery trails and his mouth moving from Gokudera's to trail kisses down his chin. Gokudera gasped as one of Hibari's fingers brushed over his nipple. When Hibari proceeded to bite his ear, Gokudera couldn't stop a sound from escaping him.

There was a satisfied grin on Hibari's face as he leaned back, and Gokudera glared.

Feeling it was time to turn the tables, Gokudera lifted himself and Hibari off the couch. The cop was clearly surprised he was able to, but didn't complain when he ended up underneath Gokudera.

It was his turn to open Hibari's shirt. Once he'd gotten halfway, however, he lost his patience and rather just lifted the entire piece of clothing up. Hibari lifted himself slightly to let the white cloth slide past his shoulders, and Gokudera took a moment to admire the man's toned upper body. His muscles practically _rippled_ as Hibari lifted himself. After a few seconds of revelry, Gokudera started feeling up the curves and angles of Hibari's body. To nobody's surprise, Hibari clearly worked out. Gokudera enjoyed the view and the feel of Hibari's flesh. The man gave him a whole minute before his patience clearly grew thin, and he gave another wordless growl for Gokudera to _get moving already_.

"You're beautiful, Hibari." Gokudera said, perhaps a bit _too_ sincere. He wasn't supposed to mean it this much, he was sure.

"Call me Kyoya," Hibari spoke, and his voice was uncharacteristically hesitant.

"What?" Gokudera asked, and only after did the request truly register.

"My name. Call me Kyoya," Hibari repeated, and it felt like his entire body was shutting down for a moment.

Right. _Kyoya_. His name.

"A-alright. You can call me Hayato. If you want."

Kyoya gave a curt nod, and then he reached up to slide Gokudera's shirt off his shoulders.

Gokudera's heart was racing. Kyoya was making this into more than _just_ hooking up, more than a meaningless one-night stand. It was making Gokudera feel... Strange.

_Self reflection comes later_ , he reminded himself. He'd almost forgotten already, but he was doing this for a reason.

A reason that wasn't how absolutely gorgeous Hibari was looking, lying underneath him with cheeks flushed and breath paced just slightly faster than normally.

"Kyoya," Gokudera muttered. The response was immediate: Hibari tensed before he forcibly relaxed, letting out a breath of air that shuddered on exhalation. "How far would you like to take this?"

Gokudera's gaze went down to Hibari's pants. In this position there was a very clear outline where Hibari's erection was pushing against the fabric. He assumed he wasn't much better off, his underwear feeling too tight, his jeans not helping matters.

Kyoya looked thoughtful, before he colored suddenly. Gokudera didn't even have time to consider what he might have thought of before he responded.

"I want your dick in my mouth, Go- _Hayato."_

Suddenly Gokudera understood why Kyoya had tensed at hearing his first name. It felt almost unreal, giving the situation a dreamlike quality.

Not to mention what Kyoya had said _before that_.

"Holy shit," he said with disbelief.

"I can't believe all this time, and you were actually a pervert," Gokudera mumbled. Kyoya scowled in response, and opened his mouth to retort. Interrupting him, Gokudera said "Do you actually want me to fuck your mouth?"

The way Kyoya's face went red again, Gokudera thought he had the answer long before he spoke the word.

"Yes." He paused. "Please."

Unable to resist, Gokudera leaned down and claimed Hibari's mouth. This time he made sure to be on the offence; pushing his tongue inside roughly, as if trying to establish dominance with a kiss alone. In response, Kyoya _moaned._

Gokudera was going to fuck this man if it was the last thing he ever did. He had not thought he would want this so fucking much, but having Kyoya underneath him like this, willingly letting another man ravage him, it made Gokudera _ache_.

He moved forwards until he was straddling Hibari's chest. He pulled his zipper down, then his underwear. His cock sprung free of its confines, and Gokudera saw Kyoya look up at his dick with a lidded gaze. It felt unreal. Hibari _wanted_ this. He wanted to be facefucked in the most dirty way possible.

Even more surreal, Gokudera found himself wanting it as well. His hand brushed across Kyoya's face gently, trailing up to his hairline. He grabbed a handful of hair and pulled upwards. Kyoya's head followed the motion, and his soft lips opened slightly. Then his tongue darted out, licking the head of Gokudera's cock.

_Fuck_. Hibari was so keen, his hands even coming up to press Gokudera’s hips forward _._ Gokudera adjusted his dick's position with his free hand, and Kyoya's mouth opened to take it.

While he had a solid grip of the man's hair, Gokudera only used it to help Kyoya's motion as his neck worked to tilt his head forward.

Gokudera really tried to be careful, to take his time. Kyoya meanwhile set a high pace, taking more and more down until Gokudera could feel his cock hit the back of Kyoya's mouth each time. In the end he started to move his hips as well, and Hibari's head fell back against the couch cushions. The sounds coming from Kyoya were obscene, and yet he made no move to halt Gokudera's action. Even as Gokudera saw him choke, saw him gag, Hibari had a determined expression on his face as he swallowed around the dick.

It felt incredible. At a point, Gokudera wasn't certain he could have stopped even if he'd wanted to. He kept thrusting his hips downwards, pulling back to let Hibari breathe and then repeating. The determined scowl on Kyoya's face was giving way to something more relaxed, his fingers digging into Gokudera's hips.

The man looked completely wrecked. The sight drove Gokudera towards a climax, every thrust sending pulses of pleasure up his spine. He could feel it coming, could feel his muscles tense and his instincts telling him to keep thrusting. Instead, Gokudera pulled back.

Or at least, he tried to pull back. Kyoya's fingers are like steel clamps on his hips, and his head tilted forward to take Gokudera's cock down to the root.

His orgasm ripped through him. He jerked his hips forward once, his head a haze of pleasure. Kyoya let go of his hips and he almost fell backwards on the couch. His cock slipped out of Kyoya's mouth, and he could see a trail of sperm running down Kyoya's chin. The man coughed twice, before seeming to forcibly stop himself.

"Shit, are you okay?" Gokudera said, feeling awed and bemused at the same time. As well as really, really tired. Even so, he did feel like it was his job to take care of Hibari. To make sure he was okay.

Hibari didn't answer, just got up from the couch and walked away. Gokudera stared after him, feeling a lump in his stomach that he'd somehow fucked up. He'd fucked up, and now Kyoya was just going to leave.

Instead of going for the hallway Hibari went over to the sink. He fixed himself a glass of water. Drank it. Filled the glass again, and turned.

His dark gaze felt like an anvil as it settled on him.

Then something else caught Gokudera's attention. Kyoya's pants were clearly as tight as his pants had been, minutes earlier. "Do you... Would you like for me to get you off, Kyoya?" Gokudera asked, though feeling the question settled awkwardly in the silence between them.

The man looked considering, but shook his head. "No. It's fine like this."

Gokudera blinked. Then he couldn't help himself. He broke out into laughter. "I'm sorry, I think you're the strangest person I've ever had sex with. And that says a lot," he said amidst bouts of laughter.

Hibari even had the gall to look properly offended by it. The man came over to the couch again, and sat down on the edge of the armlean.

"You didn't like it?" he asked.

Gokudera stopped laughing.

"Fuck Hi-Kyoya, that felt amazing. I just want to make sure you had a good time too. Sex isn't supposed to be just one person blowing their load and then it's done," Gokudera said, even as he recalled plenty of times where that had indeed been the case. Just because it happened didn't make it less shitty. If Hibari had left the apartment feeling used, Gokudera would never have forgiven himself. Mission or no mission.

Which of course reminded Gokudera that he _was_ using Hibari. He felt his mood drop like a rock.

"I'm okay. I don't need you to help me."

Gokudera sighed. "No, you don't need me to. But do you _want_ me to?"

Kyoya was staring at him with a frown that looked part confused, part frustrated. Gokudera knew he might be going at this the wrong way. He just couldn't think of any other way to go about it.

Time stretched between them. He considered breaking the silence, breaking the staring contest, but he knew that Hibari somewhat respected perseverance. And if he broke it, well then he'd probably start to fidget and say dumb shit.

So instead he just gazed back, as steadily as he knew how to.

"Can we go to your bed?" Kyoya said, finally, and it was something completely unexpected. Once again the man left him feeling bemused, wondering at how the cop could be so predictable in some situations, and yet extremely unpredictable in others.

"I- well, yes, sure," he replied, his brain working overtime to try and predict what Kyoya had in mind. 'Going to bed' usually only meant one thing in this context, but for all Gokudera knew Kyoya would just smother him with his pillow. Or want to have full on sex. Or want to sleep. There really was no way of telling with how Kyoya's face kept being unreadable.

They walked into the room, and Hibari immediately took the rest of his clothes off. Okay... Following his lead, Gokudera removed his own shirt and pants, leaving his boxers on. Hibari slid between the sheets, and Gokudera hesitated for a moment before following suit.

Why did it feel so much more intimate to lay down in a bed beside Kyoya, than it had to shove his cock down the man's throat?

Kyoya lay on his back, his gaze pointing at the ceiling. Gokudera did the same, not closing the distance between them. And so they lay there, on each side of his bed.

"Shall I turn off the light?" Gokudera offered once he realized that most of the light in the apartment was still on. He hadn't _truly_ considered that Kyoya actually wanted to sleep. Now, lying like this, Gokudera already felt his eyelids grow heavy.

He idly noticed Kyoya’s head turn. Gokudera didn’t glance over at the man, but had a feeling he was being stared at. Then there was the creaking of Kyoya’s movement before Gokudera felt a weight settle on his shoulder. 

Gokudera's arm automatically curled around Kyoya. He felt the man's gravity settle against him, the warmth of the body against his own a warm contrast to his cold. Their breathing was an uneven rhythm, and Gokudera focused for a time only on the way he breathed faster than Kyoya. 

He didn't even notice when their breathing synced, sleep having dragged him under like the waves of a sea.

Despite his arms being the ones surrounding Kyoya, Gokudera felt embraced. Warm. Completely and utterly at home.

When he surfaced the bed was cold beside him. Gokudera blinked into the thin morning light as he considered it. He was alone. Kyoya had probably left sometime after Gokudera had fallen asleep,

It might be for the best, he considered as he rose from bed. His body was stiff, and he supposed it had to do with lying in one position for most of the night.

The light was still on in the apartment, and it took time for Gokudera to realize that not everything was as he'd left it. There was a chair that had been moved at the dinner table, a plate that he couldn't remember using still full of half-eaten sweet buns.

Kyoya must have stayed for breakfast.

As Gokudera searched his apartment further, he could see more signs of Kyoya's morning. A blanket had been moved to suit as a pillow on the couch. There was water on the bathroom floor and a wet towel hanging over the shower wall. One of his shower soaps had changed position.

Back once more in the kitchen, Gokudera found an empty cup with tea leaves making a pattern against the bottom of it. Gokudera couldn't help a small smile as he prepared himself a cup of coffee.

Halfway through a hurried breakfast, Gokudera's phone rang. He took it out, and glanced at the lack of a caller ID.

"Hello?", he answered it in japanese, just to be certain.

"Hey Gokudera-kun," the warm tone of his boss replied.

////

Kyoya lay awake in bed for hours before getting up. He was unused to sharing his sleeping space with others, and everything was too warm and loud and sweaty.

Even so he hesitated to leave his spot, lying flush against Hayato's back. Despite spending hours awake he was still completely relaxed. He had been coaxed into a lull by the feel of Hayato's chest moving with each inhale, with the way he could feel Hayato's heartbeat if he burrowed his face into the other's neck. Despite being sweaty and warm and awake, there was something so incredibly pleasant about merely lying there.

His mind went from one topic to another, never really settling before it went on to the next. At the end of it all he would be hard pressed to remember just what he had thought about, lying there in the darkness. Yet when his thought struck the topic of their case, he knew he wouldn't be able to rest anymore.

So he got up, passing through the door of the bedroom as quietly as possible before he closed it behind him.

He went to the bathroom, and decided on a shower as he felt how his boxers clung to his thighs.

It was a relief to feel the cold water rushing down over his head and back.

Kyoya used liberally of the soap that Hayato had, making sure to smell it beforehand so he wouldn't come to regret his choice. It wouldn't do for him to go around smelling like AXE, or something equally atrocious and supposedly manly. It was bad enough that half his coworkers felt the need to smell up the office with their perfumed soaps. 

Hayato's soap was mostly perfumeless, with only the slightest hint of lavender in it. Satisfied, Kyoya took his time showering until his skin was getting goosebumps from the cold.

Towelling off, Kyoya then took some time to eye his boxers doubtfully. They were stained with pre-cum, and he'd have to take a trip home to change them. Unless...

Looking around, Kyoya found that Hayato indeed had a spare boxer laying together with his various toiletries. It would do.

His shirt was still hanging off the couch in the living room. It seemed fine enough to wear for a day, not terribly crinkled from their activities last night.

For a moment Kyoya considered that. _Last night_. How Hayato had fucked his mouth, had wanted to help him get off as well, had held him afterwards and curled around him... 

Kyoya felt his face heat up. He huffed, turning his attention over towards the apartment's kitchen.

He found nothing of what he'd normally eat there. The closest thing he saw was a bag of sugared buns. He found some tea as well, this one much closer to his preference.

As he slowly ate, finding the buns just this side of too sweet, Kyoya couldn't help but fall back on those thoughts. He hadn't felt someone else's body against his since... Too long ago. The closest he came were the casual touches Kyoko kept showering him with whenever they were alone together. Those, he could comfortably lean into and trust.

These touches were different. He felt his heart racing just thinking about it, and remembered how his heart had beaten fast with every movement Hayato made, with every thing he said or suggested or _did_.

No. He needed to go get his mind on something else. His pants already felt tight around his abdomen. It was clear that he needed to think of things that were less sexual in nature.

Kyoya left the apartment behind to go by the office. It was early, but it would not be the first time Kyoya arrived before everyone else.

He'd see Hayato later. The man would undoubtedly come to work after he woke up, and then Kyoya could...

Well. That was a question better left for later, what he and Hayato would become after this. Kyoya wouldn't lie and say he didn't want yesterday evening to repeat itself. 

After a bus ride and yet another repeat of the events of last night playing in his head, Kyoya arrived at the office. 

Bringing up any files he could find on Irie Shoichi, he set to work on putting together an actual case on him. If he could get enough together for a warrant, the rest should come easily.

By the next time Kyoya looked up, Kyoko had taken her space at the desk beside him. Most of their coworkers had come into the office, and the sun was filtering in through the shuttered windows.

Hayato wasn't there yet. Kyoya wondered if he'd managed to tire the analyst out the night before. They hadn't really done much, but some people did get very tired after having orgasms. Or perhaps Hayato had simply forgotten to set his alarm, seeing as Kyoya had distracted him.

Turning back on his paperwork, he once more got distracted with the case. It was only when Kyoko tapped him on the shoulder that he looked up again, a few hours later.

"Have you seen Gokudera-kun today?" she asked, smile gentle as she put her chin down on her hand.

Before Kyoya could respond an affirmative, their boss rushed into the room.

"Everyone, please gather in the meeting room!" the man bellowed. His face was looking pale and drawn.

Kyoya was one of the first ones through the door. Projected at the front of the room was the picture of a mansion, one that looked vaguely familiar. 

It looked completely wrecked. One of the walls had been completely torn down, in a way that looked purposeful. There were shapes strewn on the grounds, human-shaped and bloodied. Last but not least, there was a small fire on one side of the building. Kyoya frowned at the corpses, trying to see if he could recognize any of them.

"As you can see, last night we had a raid on this mansion, which is located between here and Tokyo," the police chief started.

It was strange. Why would this be something they were informed of? Namimori had a relatively small police unit, and was usually not involved in cases outside of the town borders.

"Now, this wouldn't normally be something for us. However, the IJA* has informed us that the mansion was actually a Millefiore base of operations. We can only presume that the raid itself was committed by the Vongola."

Kyoya felt an icy stillness sink over him at hearing those words. The Vongola had struck against the Millefiore, and he hadn't even had an inkling that it would happen. It _must_ have been a planned event, doing a raid of this scale. _Why hadn't he picked up on it?_

The police chief started going through the details. Many of the names coming up were names Kyoya knew intimately; they were people he had tailed for weeks on end, people whose houses he had been to, people he had asked questions that had never been properly answered. It itched at him like a rash, that he hadn't managed to get to the bottom of everything before something like this happened.

"How many civilians died?" Kyoya bit out, interrupting the chief as he talked about the mode of attack.

"Ah, none that have been found yet. The mansion was surrounded by private grounds, and though there are some casualties that are still unidentified the IJA theorize it is because they are Italian citizens."

That was... Good. And unlikely, but Kyoya would make it his task to find out if anyone outside of the mafia had been killed, or if anyone had mysteriously disappeared at the same time. It was extremely uncommon for this kind of event to happen without a great death toll to innocents. 

If it did indeed prove to be the case, that meant that this was actually in their favor. If the Vongola had taken out the Millefiore in one fell swoop, it meant that the Namimori Police Department suddenly only had one adversary, instead of two. It would make things easier.

Kyoya didn't doubt that it was even _too easy_. There was no way they would be handed the end of the gang war in one big, wrapped present. There had to be a catch.

////

The rest of the day went painfully slow. The police chief still looked like a ghost when he informed them that they would stop all Millefiore investigation, and Kyoya had eyed the old man suspiciously as he retreated back to his office.

After that, he and Kyoko had been handed a new assignment. The police were supposed to be stationed at the festival that would happen in a week, and he and Kyoko were responsible for setting up the rotation.

It was mind-numbingly boring. 

Other than discussing where their stations should be and setting up a list together with Kyoko, nothing happened that day. Hayato didn't show up. There was no news of gang movement. No robberies, no murders, no people to put in jail.

"Come on Hibari-kun. I think we can stand to take an early day after so much overtime," Kyoko said, and her smile was teasing as she elbowed him playfully. Kyoya sighed, and resigned himself to actually going home for once. He hadn't spent much time in his apartment lately.

Before leaving the office, Kyoya glanced down at his phone. There were no messages. He considered sending one off.

Hayato would probably call the office if something was up. The chief hadn't asked where he was, so perhaps he already had.

To his disappointment, his boss had already left. He'd have to ask tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> So KHR rare pair week is DONE and I can get back to writing my normal stuff! (as well as the many WIPs I have now created, haha sob)
> 
> I hope whoever has been reading my stuff enjoyed the ride! I sure did. :D


End file.
